Comments on: Know Your Football Codes: American Football

By: AJ

AJ — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 04:57:07 +0000

I’m an Australian who watch’s American Footy on occasions but i do encourage everyone to have a look at our great game. don’t get confussed aussie rules is not Rugby Union or Rugby League, its a game of its own that started in 1858, it has a great history its a great sport to play and watch. It’s growing at a grass roots level in the US UK and Europe, Trust me join up with a local club and play, you’ll have the time of your life

By: Footballtarian

Footballtarian — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:56:20 +0000

I love this blog, I view football as my religion. I agree with football being looked at as a theater of war. In fact I know a guy who was a commander in the Army who said he worked on a war strategy guide in the 40s that was based on the Army’s football team during their dominating 40s era.

By: k.

k. — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:54:27 +0000

hey, sorry to interupt the conversation, but i have a quick question. my son is playing football, but has a bad elbow. he found a good pad for it, but it has a hard plastic elbow covering. is the hard plastic pad legal??

By: Rob Adcox

Rob Adcox — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 05:35:08 +0000

Soccer might be a popular sport around the world, but to me it is the most boring sport in the entire history of mankind. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Now drag racing from a dead stop to 330 miles per hour in just a 1/4 of a mile whilst being catipulted by 7,500 horsepower -THAT’S excitement. Soccer is for people with nothing better to do than show off their ugly, knobby knees.

By: maelstrom

maelstrom — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:36:48 +0000

there are some good comments here…yes (see above), I have not watched a Professional grid-iron game in a good while… yet I have tryed to see as many College games as possible… this brand of the game has more strategy and is played with more heart

on the topic of ’stamina’… rest-bits ARE part of the game… do all games need to be the same? if you are simply into stamina, take up the game of rugby (or other)…. if you can accept pauses in the game, in order to strategize, take up grid-iron

By: Patrick

Patrick — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 02:27:38 +0000

As for the footballers comment and the comments about stamina… You only start to become specialized in football when you get to the high levels of University play or the NFL. In most pop-warner( kids levels), high school, and lesser division colleges, but more so in high school and pop-warner, players play offense, defense, and special teams. I was personally played linebacker, offensive line, and was our punter. Our tight end was our place kicker. Also, there are no tv timeouts and stoppages are minimal, so stamina and all around football skills are required.

By: seth

seth — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 07:16:00 +0000

This is an awsome blog. I love football

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 16:10:58 +0000

I’m Irish myself and personally Hurling is my game, followed closely by Rugby/Gaelic Football, then Aussie Rules, then Rugby League, then Lacrosse, then …..

Sorry lads, I just cannot get into American Football. Its not that i’m some European eejit that only watched a game once and decided it was crap or anything. I’ve actually tried to get into it.

Reasons I can’t.

1. Its far far far far too slow. The stoppages are unbearable. I can definitely appreciate the tactics and strategy involved but the amount of time taken to set plays up is sickening. Yes its great to watch a well planned out play but American Football COMPLETELY loses other aspects of play in other football codes because of it. Fast thinking, player decision making, Fast play.

2. The “Footballers” on the actual field. Honestly, you have a guy whose sole and only job in Football is to kick the ball ???? Hes not a footballer! A footballer should be able to do everything, defend and attack. Yes sure theres place for specialised skills but to have a guy sitting on the bench who only comes on when a kick needs to be taken is pathetic. Then you have more or less completely different teams for offence and attack, its pathetic. A guy has one skill of the game and hes a footballer ? Yes i know hes probably got that skill off to a T but thats not the point.

3. Player Stamina -> Namely, American footballers have none. Sure you can hit like an elephant on the warpath in a play, then you get a 5 minute break before you do it again.

I can’t understand how this game is appealing to anyone.

By: Peter

Peter — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 10:31:58 +0000

I wouldn’t be surprised if this game cannot catch on in other countries. The rules must be changed, 40 seconds for each play in the NFL is just too long. College football has 25 seconds. And don’t get me started on the NFL OT rules. That’s gay as.

By: Peter

Peter — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 10:29:02 +0000

I happen to be from Melbourne, Australia and I WAS a fan of American football for the past 2 years or so, especially in the last 12 months and throughout the last NFL season. But in the last few days I’m just damn sick of it. During Super Bowl XLI I was screaming and jumping up in the air after Devin Hester’s opening kickoff TD return, hoping it was a sign for things to come. Nothing much else happened for the rest of the game. I just can’t stand all the stoppages like every 5 minutes, it’s disgusting. Just watching a game is like a grueling battle of patience in itself.

By: garth

garth — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 11:07:31 +0000

the other side to that argument is that americans are the only people who would wear such over the top padding. if that is because they are less manly than other nations is open for debate.

By: Will

Will — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 16:08:44 +0000

One of the things that has always frustrated me as a fan of multiple codes of football is the group of people who think that because American Football players where helmets and padding, they are somehow less manly than rugby or aussie rules players.

The scrimmage and down-and-distance rules have created a game whose essence, from the purely physical standpoint, is collision and the usually-doomed effort to avoid collision. I have seen quite a few rugby games, and there are precious few hits that are comparable to, say, a sprinting strong safety arriving at the last second from a deep position to stop a receiver who is running as fast as possible from the other direction. That hit certainly exists in rugby, but it is relatively rare, and there are certainly not half a dozen collisions of similar magnitude occurring simultaneously as the linemen square off at the line of scrimmage.

None of this is to detract from the incredible toughness required to play rugby or aussie rules, especially without padding, but there is a damned good reason why American football (from the culture often perceived to be the most accepting of casual violence) is the only code that requires players to suit up like riot police.